BEDTIME
The song “Little Wooden Head” ends with Pinocchio dancing off the edge of the workbench, tripped up in a clutter of pots, pans, a pitcher, a palette and so forth and causing a terrible racket, which rouses Geppetto from his...
The Nine Disney Animated Masterpieces
BLUE FAIRY APPEARS
Time for bed and this household’s denizens settle in for the night: Geppetto under a beautifully quilted coverlet, Figaro alongside in his own little bed with its hand-carved headboard depicting an angelic haloed kitten praying and Cleo in her fishbowl’s...
TESTING THE NEW MARIONETTE
Geppetto now applies the finishing touch to his new marionette: biting his tongue with concentration, he paints a wide cheerful smile across Pinocchio’s face. However, I learned early on when building a puppet “the eyes have it”, as the saying...
JIMINY’S NARRATION AND MY DISCLOSURE
Having taken us into his confidence and established the story as a flashback that will corroborate the efficacy of wishing upon a star, Jiminy Cricket now launches into his narration and pries open that big book. When the end paper...
INSPIRATION AND JIMINY SINGS TITLESONG
With these difficulties of design and story finally resolved, full animation on Pinocchio resumed in September of 1938. The film’s marvelous visual intricacy is due in large part to the further inspirational graphic explorations of two veterans of classic European...
MORE PINOCCHIO PROBLEMS
Evolution of the puppet’s personality paralleled the development of his visual design. In Collodi’s book, Pinocchio, which translates as “pine eye”, is an obnoxious devious bratty little troublemaker. At Walt’s own urging, the storymen had already re-conceived him as closer...
SIX MONTHS, NO DICE!
Author of novels, short stories, plays, even an opera, Carlo Lorenzini (1826-1890) was born in Florence, Italy, but moved to Tuscany in order to attend elementary school there in the little town of Collodi. He assumed the town’s name as...
Pinocchio Most Sumptuous of All
“What they can’t do these days!” exclaims Jiminy Cricket upon surreptitiously witnessing the Blue Fairy wave her sparkling wand and bring a wooden puppet to life. His direct address from the screen to the film’s viewers, almost unprecedented in animated...
SNOW WHITE’S RECEPTION
“The greatest film ever made” declared Sergei Eisenstein (1898-1948) the revered Russian pioneer film-maker, auteur of Battleship Potemkin. None other than the renowned silent filmstar and comedian Charlie Chaplain pronounced Dopey to be “one of the greatest comedians of all...
MOURNING AFTERMATH
Gradually candlelight dispels the darkness and reveals Snow White lying serenely beautiful – victim of the Sleeping Death – on a bier inside the dwarf’s cottage, her head resting on a pillow, her lower body covered beneath a sheet. The...
